2006 - School of Social Service Administration - University of Chicago

Advocates’ Forum
and her daughter were living provided numerous opportunities. In addition,
the patient was scheduled for general equivalency diploma (GED) training,
job assistance, and a variety of other supports. As part of her session, the
practitioner began to map these events, creating a visual aid that clarified and
illustrated her story.
The agency served as the starting node and assigned the shelter, GED
training, and so on to other nodes. The author and patient then connected the
nodes in relation to each other. For example, the map connected the agency
to the shelter and the GED training site, because both referrals came from the
agency. Her daughter’s school, their community activities, and her job assistance
site were linked to the client’s shelter because of the shelter’s referral. The
clinical breakthrough occurred while viewing the map, when she announced,
“I would have never had all of these opportunities if I was still selling drugs
with my brother.” 8 Throughout the time she remained homeless, the patient
struggled with the choice of whether to sell drugs. She resisted. The patient
credits God with her decision not to return to drug dealing.
The author questions whether the patient would have expressed her
personal realization without the map. The patient and author may have spent
a lot of time trying to understand various details, continually explaining words
and definitions. The map acted as a visual tool, allowing patient and practitioner
to see and share the same understanding of the client’s current situation.
The second example of this intervention comes from a group session.
A discussion of triggers slowly began to evolve into a cognitive dissonance
session. Many patients were describing the pipes used to smoke crack and how
memories of substance abuse created feelings of happiness. When the group
was asked to define what it means to be happy, members immediately responded
as if they were reprimanded. Several members of the group then related the
opinion that pipes should be considered as bad. Another person announced,
“[The pipes] sure are beautiful, though.” As everyone laughed, the author
pointed out that these are expected thoughts; people begin using drugs because
they enjoy the sensation. The author explained how the patients’ behaviors
had trained their minds to associate the pipe with happy thoughts, even though
they now recognize the pipe as a negative stimulus. They were encouraged to
retrain their minds.
Because this discussion confused the members of the group, node-link
mapping was used to illustrate the practitioner’s points. After viewing the map,
the patients were still confused by the practitioner’s encouragement to retrain
their minds. They could not conceptualize the mind’s role in changing behaviors.
While still focusing on the details of the map, the author diverted the focus
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